At least 1,425 people have been executed by Iran in the two years since the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022. Amini’s death sparked the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ nationwide movement and protests in Iran.
Protests are ongoing in Iran against the hard-line Islamic clerical authorities, with the latest being on Sunday – 34 female political prisoners went on hunger strike in Iran’s Evin Prison to mark the second anniversary of the movement.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians continue to protest, standing in solidarity against the government’s oppressive policies. Amnesty International says there have been no effective, impartial, and independent criminal investigations into the serious human rights violations and crimes by Iranian authorities.
It highlighted that security forces used assault rifles, shotguns loaded with metal pellets, and teargas canisters, against protestors, and beat the protestors with batons – resulting in the unlawful killing of hundreds of people and bystanders, including children.
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Death Penalty Tool Important for Iran
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, IHRNGO Director, said the death penalty is the Islamic Republic’s most important tool to create societal fear. With this, the state aims to suppress protests and prevent further protests.
Amiry-Moghaddam called on the international community and the UN Fact-Finding Mission to investigate Iran’s use of the death penalty as part of the investigation into the crimes committed during the suppression of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ nationwide protests.
Nahid Naghshbandi, Human Rights Watch’s acting Iran researcher, said Iranian authorities are brutalizing people twice over. The regime executes or kills a family member, and then arrests their loved ones for demanding accountability.
The HRW highlighted that in Iran, security forces impunity is rampant. There are no government investigations into the use of excessive and lethal force, torture, sexual assault, and other serious abuses.
Furthermore, judicial authorities increased the use of the vaguely defined national security charges that could carry the death penalty against protestors.
